Three days later, Niko, decided to start his online class. He texted his friends, gathered the materials he needed, and ate breakfast. Since it was his 'first day', Niko wore a red shirt and planned to have the kids make their own name tags so that he could identify them easily (although these were the kids of his friends).He also contacted his cousins so that his little nephews and nieces could join.
For an hour, Niko was able to do most things he had could do in a regular classroom – sing songs, dance/move, share a story, and do an activity. Almost immediately after the 'class' was over, his students' parents were already sending messages congratulating him and joking about extending the 'class' for a few more hours if not the whole day.
---
Riki sat at her desk hovered over her own laptop trying to get some work done. Although she got most of her work done better because there were fewer distractions Riki felt tired and hot because of the climate. She was restless and bored during the video conference she was having with people from her office.
Riki leaned back on her chair as she read through the latest file that was sent to her for review. She had not opened the curtains on her window but she could see something red moving in the window across.
She tried to ignore it at first but the actions seemed to be repetitive. Riki was now in a video conference with her team but she kept on glancing away. Ton noticed this and sent her a private message.
"Okay ka lang?" Ton messaged.
"Huh?" Riki tried to be discreet in responding.
"Kanina ka pa parang distracted e. Alam ko, boring din yung sinasabi ni Rochelle pero kailangan natin yung data e"
"Hmm..." Riki replied as she glanced at Ton's message.
"Huy!" Ton messaged again when he caught Riki look away from the screen for a 'longer' period.
"Ano?"
"Anong tinitingnan mo dyan?"
"Wala" Riki responded and tried to concentrate on the meeting.
After a few more minutes, the red moving 'object' stopped. When Riki glanced over at the window she noticed something "new" and different on the glass.
The video chat ended and Riki stood up from her chair. She moved toward the window to take a closer look at her neighbor's window. From the way it looked with a rectangular strip hung on string, the object hanging looked like a sign.
"Weird. Bakit ka maglalagay ka ng sign dyan e nasa 16th floor ka" Riki said. "...nasa taas tayo..." Riki guessed that they were on the same floor.
---
In the days that followed, Riki noticed that her neighbor's window and what seemed like a low shelf in front of it was beginning to be filled with many colored objects.
"Baka may anak sya?" Ina suggested when Riki mentioned what she observed. They once again volunteered at the repacking facility.
"Pwede...pero now ko lang nakita yung ganun."
"Are you sure?"
"Positive. Parang imposibleng dinala nya yung anak nya sa apartment nya now na strict ang quarantine rules at may checkpoints sa maraming lugar..."
"What if they live in the same city?"
"Posible pero parang malabo pa rin, diba? I mean, kung may anak sya, siguro naman nakatira din yung asawa nya with him...pero wala atang babaeng nakatira dun e..."
"Paano mo nalaman?"
"Wala pa nga akong nakikitang babae o bata dun sa apartment nya..." Riki reasoned.
"Hmm...pero teka, nakita mo na yung livestream na kinuwento ko sa yo?" Ina nodded then asked.
"Alin dun?"
"Yung cutie na preschool teacher..."
"Huh?"
"Hello! I sent you a link to this livestream video of a cute preschool teacher. He has classes for little kids every day for an hour. I think he starts at around 10am..." Ina said.
---
While relaxing after a long day of volunteer work, Riki scrolled through her time line and saw the notifications of posts which Ina tagged her. One of them was a video of the male preschool teacher.
"Why would I be interested in something like this?" Riki thought as she clicked on the link. She was 25 years old and was not in a relationship. And although her family was bugging her about it, Riki didn't really think much about getting into a new relationship at the moment. Besides, they were currently on lockdown and she could not imagine having a 'long distance relationship' with anyone. She was already bummed at the idea of not having much physical interaction with her friends. Also, she wasn't too keen on having kids if and when she got married.
Riki watched the video and thought the 'teacher' looked cute. He seemed to be enjoying what he was doing judging by how his eyes turned to slits whenever he'd heartily laugh. "Teacher Nyx" as he called himself, was very enthusiastic and he entertaining to watch. He was energetic and was able to hold the kids' attention based on how quiet they seemed to be while he spoke. Riki could not really see the students because the video was focused on the teacher but she could tell that there were kids probably watching the streamed video because he would call them by name and she could also hear some of their responses.
Before she knew it, Riki was engrossed with the story "Teacher Nyx" was reading to the kids. She caught herself answering questions he asked about the story out loud. When Teacher Nyx said that the class was over, Riki reacted similarly to the kids – with a collective "awwww". She brightened up when he said that he couldn't wait until the next morning for a new session. Teacher Nyx then spoke to the parent (whom Riki assumed was nearby) to prepare materials their kids would need for the next day's activity. "...yes Mommy and Daddy, you're going to have fun too!" Teacher Nyx said. He ended the class with a goodbye song and a personalized name for each of his students. Riki caught herself smiling and looking forward to the next day's session.
"...magaling sya ha..." Riki said in a video chat with Ina the following evening.
"O diba? I knew you'd enjoy it." Ina replied. "Nga pala, pwede ka ba on Friday?"
"Dun ulit sa facility?"
"Oo...pero sa soup kitchen ata tayo tutulong..."
"Ah sige. Ayusin ko schedule ko and I'll let you know."
"Oks!"
---
It was getting warmer as summer was approaching. Although her apartment faced the street, the windows that could be opened were rather small and the breeze that would blow was warm. Riki decided to do her dance exercise session on the roof deck of her apartment.
Because of his morning 'classes', Niko moved his jogging/exercise schedule to the afternoon. He waited when the sun would begin to set before he went up to his building's roof top to jog.
Niko could hear music as he began stretching before his run. Because of the lockdown and curfew, sounds seemed to be enhanced because the general surrounding was now becoming quiet. Niko looked around and tried to locate the music source. Across the building roof top from his, he saw a girl dancing. The movement the girl was doing was quite familiar. Niko stood by the wall and watched the girl dance. When she finished, Niko clapped and the girl turned.
"Huh?" Riki heard the clapping as her music began to fade. She slowly turned and saw someone in the opposite roof deck clapping. Riki glanced at the other roof decks in the area but they were all empty. She smiled.
They guy waved at her and said, "Ang galing mo!"
Riki could only see his shoulders and head. "Salamat..." Riki said softly, smiled, and nodded shyly.
